


Lucky Day

by BamItsTaeTae



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Horror, Mentioned Kim Jongin | Kai, Mentioned Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Mentioned Oh Sehun, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 19:16:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16102067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BamItsTaeTae/pseuds/BamItsTaeTae
Summary: The man’s hands were trembling as he reached them into his coat. Slowly, he pulled out a long golden locket. It seemed to Baekhyun, almost ethereal. It glittered softly, reflecting what little light seeped into the alley. The man stretched out his wrinkly hand. He offered no explanation as to what this priceless piece of jewelry was or what he wanted Baekhyun to do with it. Baekhyun took the locket without thinking, entranced by it. He turned it over delicately, examining it closely. His reflection gazed back at him from its pristine surface. His fingers pried it open gently. There, pressed beneath a thin glass pane, lay a four-leaf clover.





	Lucky Day

        The street lights faded in and out of focus as Baekhyun struggled to stay awake. He had been working on same story for weeks with no break throughs. He trudged down the street. He hummed softly to himself in an attempt to keep awake. He passed a store window. A clock on the wall inside read 3:47 AM. Baekhyun sighed. At this point his social life was all but dead. He yearned for his college years and the relative freedom he had back then. Adult life in the “real world” had not been kind. It seemed like nothing ever went his way. He was stuck in a job he didn’t really love, working in the dying medium of magazines, completely single, and extremely lonely.

“How unlucky I am,” He mumbled a little sarcastically.

           The sudden appearance of someone in his peripheral made him stop walking abruptly. It was an older man. He was wearing at least three layers of jackets covered in stains. A worn black baseball cap covered most of his grey hair. Baekhyun figured he was probably homeless. He knew it was judgmental of him, but the guy creeped him out. The man was standing in an alley way, just staring at the ground in front of him. His brow was furrowed like he was in deep contemplation. Baekhyun wanted to just ignore him and walk past, but he couldn’t get his legs to obey.

             The man lifted his eyes slowly to meet Baekhyun’s. For a moment he looked concerned, maybe even a little regretful. But it was quickly replaced with grim determination. He raised his hand and beckoned for Baekhyun to follow him. He turned and walked back into the alley. Baekhyun stood there, staring at the darkness he had disappeared into. This was his chance to escape, right? His legs pulled him forward and turned into the alley. He had no idea why he did that. Morbid curiosity? Tiredness? It didn’t matter. He did it.

               The man was waiting for him. Baekhyun tried to open his mouth to say something, but he was too anxious to even move a muscle. The man’s hands were trembling as he reached them into his coat. Slowly, he pulled out a long golden locket. It seemed to Baekhyun, almost ethereal. It glittered softly, reflecting what little light seeped into the alley. The man stretched out his wrinkly hand. He offered no explanation as to what this priceless piece of jewelry was or what he wanted Baekhyun to do with it. Baekhyun took the locket without thinking, entranced by it. He turned it over delicately, examining it closely. His reflection gazed back at him from its pristine surface. His fingers pried it open gently. There, pressed beneath a thin glass pane, lay a four-leaf clover. It was a vivid green, so well preserved in its little cage it could have very well been picked mere minutes before.

                Sense slowly crept back into Baekhyun’s mind. He lifted his head to ask the man what this meant. But the alley was gone and Baekhyun was standing on the sidewalk, empty handed.

 

 

_Ding Dong_

 

                  Baekhyun opened his eyes. He sat up slowly, looking over at his nightstand. 7:04 AM? Why hadn’t his alarm woken him up? He’d probably slept through it. He was only four minutes behind though. It could’ve been worse. Plus, he felt surprisingly refreshed for only getting three hours of sleep. He stood up and shuffled to his front door. Nobody ever rang his doorbell, especially not at seven in the morning, so Baekhyun was a little excited. Hence, he was a little disappointed to find the hallway empty. He figured someone must’ve gotten the wrong door. But it was ultimately a good thing for him, he would’ve been late to work if they hadn’t.

 

 

                   The day was off to a good start. Baekhyun managed to find the perfect milk-to-cereal ratio to not have any of either left over. He had a bad habit of putting things on the thin rim of his sink in the morning and then accidently knocking them off into the toilet. Many phones, toothbrushes, and morsels of food had died that way. But, despite him knocking yet another toothbrush off, it managed to land on the seat of the toilet in such a way the brush end never touched it. Even though he was a few minutes behind, he managed to get out the door a little early. But he decided the best part of his morning was running into a stray cat on the sidewalk.

                   Just as he was arriving at work, his phone buzzed.

 - Xiumin -

I have new info.

                                                                                                       - You -

                                                                                                       Go on…

 - Xiumin -

You were right. They were paying                                                                                                                                                                              

them to skew the results.

                                                                                                       - You -

                                                                                           Do you have proof?

\- Xiumin -

I got emails.

 

                  Baekhyun walked into work with a giant smile on his face. And his coworkers noticed.

“Hey, what’s the good news?” Chanyeol asked leaning over his cubicle wall to look into Baekhyun’s.

                 He was too tall to have any respect for privacy.

“My informant finally got back to me,” Baekhyun lifted up his phone to show him.

“Sweet!” Chanyeol said after reading over the texts. “But why is his contact name X-men?”

“It’s pronounced Xiumin,” Baekhyun said indignantly. “And I can’t make my informant’s contact names their real names so… I give ‘em something cool.”

“Xiumin…” Yixing repeated, sticking his head around the other wall. “That sounds like an Idol name.”

“Yeah, that’s kinda what I was going for!” Baekhyun said, getting excited to be having an actual conversation with his coworkers.

“What’s all this chitchat?” Jongdae, their boss, asked strolling up to them.

                  Baekhyun showed him the text and he seemed pleased.

“That sounds like a great lead,” Jongdae said. “Follow it. Just make sure you certify everything before you publish anything.”

“Of course!” Baekhyun was beaming at this point.

 

 

                     Baekhyun was standing in his bedroom… but something felt off. It was like he couldn’t really focus on anything. Something warm was pressing against his chest. He looked down. It was that locket. He thought that whole experience had just been a dream. The locket was glowing a little. He thought about taking it off. He could probably sell it for some decent money. But its warmth was comforting. Plus, it was a good luck charm. He needed some good luck. Or, rather, some more good luck. He decided to leave it on.

                       His eyes opened. He was lying on his bed, the room back in focus, and no locket in sight.

“Oh,” He blinked. “It was a dream.”

 

 

                       Baekhyun didn’t really like clubs. They were too loud for you to hear anyone and the music was never really any good. Still, when Chanyeol and Yixing had asked him to go with them, he had said yes immediately. But now that he was lost in a crowd of strangers, he wasn’t so enthusiastic. One second, they had been by his side, and the next they were gone. He stood by the bar, trying to decide what to do, when someone caught his eye. A girl. A super gorgeous girl. She wasn’t wearing your typical “club attire”. She was wearing a freaking sweater. But then again, he wasn’t exactly wearing “club attire” either. Their eyes met. She smiled at him. He smiled back. She kinda looked like a dork. A super gorgeous dork that was totally walking over to him.

“Hey,” She said. “I’m Sojin.”

 

 

             Warm… it was really warm. No, it was hot. He stared down at the necklace. Its warmth wasn’t as comforting anymore. He touched it. It burned. He wanted to take it off. But he couldn’t, that would change things, he knew it would. He could bear the heat if it meant that she stayed with him.

               His eyes opened. The dream was over again.

 

 

**Kim Jongin, manager of idol Oh Sehun, pays L-net to get Award at LAMA.** \- 506,783 reads

            Baekhyun refreshed the page over and over, watching the numbers climb. He leaned back in his chair. He’d never had an article get so many views so quickly. It did make sense, he was exposing one of the biggest idols. He didn’t really like writing “celebrity gossip” so it was really exciting to have his first serious article. Like any sane person, he hated corruption.

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae’s voice startled him.

“Oh!” He laughed a little. “Yes?”

Jongdae plopped a box down on his desk. “Pack up your things.”

“Huh?” Baekhyun looked at the box. “Are you firing me?”

Jongdae smiled. “The opposite. You’re getting promoted.”

                  Baekhyun threw what few things he had on his desk in the box and followed Jongdae away from the cubicles.

“You’ve always been a hard-worker,” Jongdae said. “And with the recent success of your last few articles, especially the last one, I decided it was time for you to become one of our head writers.”

“Really?” Baekhyun felt like he was going to faint.

“Really.” Jongdae stopped and gestured to a door. “This is your office.”

“Thank you!” Baekhyun bowed.

“No, thank you.” Jongdae patted him on the back and walked away.

              Baekhyun watched him walk away before opening the door slowly. He peaked inside. There was someone standing by the desk, packing things into a box.

“Um,” Baekhyun cleared his throat.

They turned around. “Oh! Baekhyun, right?”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun stepped inside.

“I’m Kim Junmyeon.” He smiled, a little weakly.

                He kind of looked like he’d been crying. Baekhyun looked at the box on the desk and he felt his face heating up.

“Oh, uh.” He stepped back. “Were you the- uh, am I-”

“Taking my job?” Junmyeon asked, more amused than annoyed. “Yes. But I don’t hold it against you. I understand how things work. If you don’t keep up a good track record… you’ll drop a few pegs.”

                 His voice quivered a little that the end. Baekhyun felt a pit in his stomach. This guy really cared about his job. Baekhyun only did it because his real dream died years ago. And there he was, taking this position away from him.

“Ah, sorry.” Junmyeon forced a smile. “I’m kinda souring your moment, aren’t I?”

“Oh, no!” Baekhyun shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it. Enjoy your upgrade!” Junmyeon walked past him. “We should try to get along. I’m kind of like your assistant now.”

“A-alright. See you around!” Baekhyun waved as he closed the door.

                 Baekhyun put his stuff down on the desk. He pulled out his phone. He needed to feel like this wasn’t a bad thing.

                                                                                                        - You -

                                                                                                  I got promoted!

 - Sojin <3 -

Really?! Babe, that’s amazing! I’m so proud of you!!!

We should celebrate! Love u! <3

                                                                                                        - You -

                                                                                                 Ok! Love u too!

 

                 Baekhyun smiled. Right, this was a good thing. Junmyeon understood that this was how things worked. He shouldn’t feel guilty.

 

 

                 “Even if everyone leaves, I only need you. I want you to be happy as you’re with me. If I can protect you, nothing’s a waste, even my own world.” Baekhyun sang as he practically danced down the road. Even doing a little spin as he hit the high note. “Please don’t be sad. Baby, you’re much prettier when you smile. Don’t put on that sad face. When I see you, my heart aches so much. Uh oh!”

                 He laughed a little under his breath and slowed his pace. He had spent the last few hours of daylight with Sojin. He had no idea someone could be so wonderful. He’d never felt so in love with someone before. It’d only been a few months, but he was convinced he would marry that girl.

“Yes, look at me and smile like that. Don’t frown that pretty face.” A voice sang, finishing the song.

                   Baekhyun just about had a heart attack. It was at least two in the morning and as far as he knew, no one else had been around him. He spun around to see someone wearing a face mask standing a few feet down the sidewalk. Even with the mask, Baekhyun recognized him right away. The voice was a clear enough give away but seeing him did help.

“Y-you’re-” Baekhyun couldn’t even get a sentence out.

                     He wasn’t normally the type to be a “fanboy”, but this guy was different. He was everything Baekhyun had ever dreamed of being. A singer, a songwriter, an actor, everything.

“D-Do Kyungsoo…” He finally got the words out.

Kyungsoo chuckled. “I don’t know why I bother with the mask anymore honestly. Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just, you’ve got an amazing voice.”

“Thank you!” Baekhyun bowed. “That’s a real honor coming from you!”

“I mean it!” Kyungsoo walked over to him. “Have you ever considered being a singer?”

“Well…” Baekhyun could barely think straight. “Yes, but-”

“But nothing.” Kyungsoo pulled the mask down and smiled. “You know what? Take this.”

                   Kyungsoo reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. He handed it to Baekhyun who accepted it with a bow.

“Call me tomorrow and I’ll get you an audition.” Kyungsoo said.

“Really? You’d do that for me?” Baekhyun asked.

“Yeah, you deserve a chance.” Kyungsoo said. “I really wish people had given me one sooner.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” Baekhyun desperately tried to hold back tears. “I must be the luckiest person alive!”

 

 

                 Hot. It was too hot. No! It was burning! The locket was searing into his neck. Its glow was too bright to look at. The whole room was so blurry. His head was spinning. He had to get it off! But he was terrified. The metal seared deeper into his flesh. He tried to scream but he couldn’t even open his mouth. He grabbed the chain. It burned into his hand. He pulled it off. As soon as it wasn’t around his neck, the burning shot up his right arm and across his whole body. It was so painful, he was certain he was burning alive. He dropped the locket. As soon as it left his hand, the glowing stopped. It landed on the floor with a sickening crash. It shattered. Pieces of glass scattered across the floor. The four-leaf clover lay on the floor for only a moment before shriveling up and crumbling.

                        Baekhyun’s eyes flung open. He was lying on the floor. His right arm stung from the impact of hitting the floor. He rolled onto his back, breathing heavily. He was drenched in sweat. Then he noticed it. The locket lay mere inches from him, utterly destroyed. Baekhyun stared at it, unable to process what he was seeing. Dread sunk deeper and deeper into his chest. He stood up slowly, glancing over at his clock. 12:34 PM. His heart stopped. He looked around for his phone to see why it hadn’t gone off, but it wasn’t there. He gave up and rushed to get dressed.

                            He burst into his work, running to his office as fast as he could. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Jongdae.

“Baekhyun!” He sounded rightfully angry. “Where have you been?”

“I’m sorry!” Baekhyun bowed and continued walking. “My alarm didn’t go off b-”

“I’ve been trying to contact you all day,” Jongdae pulled out his phone and showed it to him. “Look.”

**Kim Jongin speaks on controversy. “I never paid anyone for that Award. That is a blatant lie.”** \- 1,435,234 reads

“Wait… but-” Baekhyun started.

“This is a serious problem. This article just about proves everything you said in your article wrong.” Jongdae ran his hand through his hair. “This is a publicity nightmare. We’re undeniably the bad guys in this situation and our largest competitor is profiting big time off it.”

“I don’t understand.” Baekhyun’s voice shook. “I checked the creditability of my info as thoroughly as possible!”

“Clearly not if you let all of this counter evidence slip through!” Jongdae raised his voice.

                 Several people were looking at them now. Jongdae closed his eyes and sighed.

“Look, I need to talk to the higher ups about this.” Jongdae turned. “But things don’t look good for you.”

                      Baekhyun stumbled into his office, his stomach was churning. There was no way this was because of that dream. He sat down at his computer. He scrolled through the article, his mouth hanging open. How had he missed all of this? The comments were full of people attack their magazine. Jongdae was right, this was a nightmare. Another article along the side caught his eye.

**Singer Do Kyungsoo killed last night. Police say it was a hit-and-run.** \- 732,234 reads

                       Baekhyun covered his mouth, eyes welling up. His hand trembled as he pulled the business card out of his pocket. This wasn’t happening. Things couldn’t be falling apart like this. It was that locket, something about that locket. Baekhyun stood up. He had to get back to it. He ran out of his office.

“Hey, wait!” Chanyeol called after him as he ran to the doors. “You’re not seriously leaving right now, are you?”

 

 

                      He stumbled up to his door, his lungs stung from running. He reached out to unlock the door, but it opened. Had he forgotten to lock it? He opened it slowly. He could hear someone rummaging through his room. He crept slowly towards the noise. But the person came out of the room before he could even get close.

“Sojin?” Baekhyun instantly felt relived.

“B-Baekhyun?” Her eyes were wide.

“What are you…” Baekhyun trailed off. “Why do you have my laptop? And my phone? What- what are you doing?”

“I, uh, look…” She started backing away. “It isn’t- I’m not-”

“Are you stealing from me?” Baekhyun stumbled backwards.

             Sojin stared at him for a moment. She sighed and slowly pulled a knife out of her back pocket. She looked terrified, but she still pointed at him.

“I’m sorry.” She said. “I just need money. You never bought me anything or gave me any opportunities to do things the easy way. So, this seemed like the only way. Just let me go, okay?”

“What are you talking about?” Baekhyun could barely contain himself. “I thought you…”

“What?” Sojin cracked a bemused smile. “Loved you?”

                  She shook her head and started trying to edge past him.

“Just let me go and I won’t hurt you, okay?” She repeated.

“No!” Baekhyun lunged for the knife.

                 Sojin plunged it upwards into his hand. Baekhyun screamed and fell back against the wall. Sojin ran past him, grabbing a backpack she had filled with other valuables. She stopped at the door.

“You seemed like a nice enough guy,” She said, her voice full of sickening pity. “But I never loved you.”

                   Sojin disappeared. Baekhyun broke down sobbing. Blood dripped from his hand, seeping into the carpet. The locket… what had it done to him? He crawled to his room, unable to even stand. The floor was completely bare.

 

 

                  The sun was setting slowly as Baekhyun finally made it back to the office. He hadn’t been able to stand for hours. His eyes still stung from crying. How had he suddenly become so pathetic? He stumbled past the cubicles, his coworkers not daring to say anything. He opened his office door. Junmyeon was standing by his desk, setting down a box. He turned around slowly.

“Baekhyun…” He didn’t make eye contact.

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun marched over to him.

“You didn’t see?” Junmyeon looked almost horrified.

“What?” Baekhyun snapped.

“You’re, um, fired.” Junmyeon muttered.

“Fired?” Baekhyun stared at him.

“The media has been going crazy about your article.” Junmyeon said. “They needed to protect the magazine’s reputation.”

“No…” Baekhyun sunk to his knees. “What do I do now?”

“I’m so sorry,” Junmyeon bent down next to him.

“My life is over,” Baekhyun covered his face. “I don’t have anything left! That… locket…”

“No! Don’t talk like that. It’s not over,” Junmyeon smiled softly. “Trust me, I understand, I’ve been there, but-”

“Understand?” Baekhyun raised his head slowly. “How could you understand?”

          Junmyeon opened his mouth in confusion. Baekhyun could feel the anger and anguish that had been building inside him boiling over.

“You’re happy about this, aren’t you?” Baekhyun stood up.

“What? No!” Junmyeon stood up slowly.

“You’re going to get my job, right?” Tears started spilling down Baekhyun’s face. “It’s not fair! How can my whole life crumble in one day and you get to take my job? You had something to do with it didn’t you?”

“Baekhyun,” Junmyeon stepped past him and started backing towards the door. “You need to calm down. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Everything’s not as bad as it seems you just-”

“Son of a-” Baekhyun slammed into Junmyeon, knocking them both to the floor.

“Baek-” Junmyeon couldn’t get a word out before Baekhyun had his fingers wrapped around his throat.

“Give it back!” Baekhyun sobbed. “Give it back!”

                Junmyeon desperately clawed at Baekhyun’s arms, trying to pull them off. Tears filled his eyes and his legs trashed around underneath Baekhyun. But Baekhyun only squeezed harder. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. It had to be a dream. His life couldn’t be built so high only to fall apart in one day.

                The world went blurry. Baekhyun didn’t hear the door fly open or the screams. He didn’t see Chanyeol running over to him. All he could hear was the breath escaping from Junmyeon’s lungs. All he could see was the life fading from his eyes. Chanyeol slammed into him, throwing him off Junmyeon. His head cracked against the base of his desk. Baekhyun instantly slipped into unconsciousness.

 

 

                On his first night in prison, Baekhyun saw it. It lay only a few feet away from him, still shattered, taunting him. It wouldn’t leave him alone. He would throw it as far away as he could, but it was always there again the next night. His life was over, all because of that locket. He couldn’t even remember the day he got out of prison. But he remembered that first night. He sat in an alley, the long chain stretched out before him. It glittered like it had the first night he’d seen it. The glass plane held a four-leaf clover. It tempted him to reach out to it. He just watched it. The moon hung over them. It was late into the night, but Baekhyun stayed awake. His eyes drifted to the street. He could hear distant humming. Someone approached blissfully unaware of the presence in the shadows or of Baekhyun. The necklace glowed, it's hunger growing, tearing away what little will Baekhyun had left. Baekhyun reached out and grabbed it.

“Finally,” He said. “I’ll be rid of you.”


End file.
